“A Bill will be introduced to strengthen the law against bribery.”
The UK is recognised as one of the least corrupt countries globally - 16th in the world and 3rd of G8 countries according to Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. But we cannot be complacent.
We need a modern and effective law against bribery to help reinforce integrity in the business and public sectors.
Jack Straw is the Government’s Anti-Corruption Champion. He will lead this work and to develop a comprehensive UK strategy for tackling foreign bribery, which will strengthen our work with international partners, establishing a clear legal and policy framework.
The purpose of the Bill is to:
Provide a modern and comprehensive scheme of bribery offences to equip prosecutors and courts to deal effectively with bribery at home and abroad.
The main benefits of the Bill would be:
To provide a new, modern and comprehensive scheme of bribery offences that will enable courts and prosecutors to respond more effectively to bribery at home or abroad.
The Bill would help us enhance our country’s international reputation for the highest ethical standards.
The main elements of the Bill are:
• The Bill would replace our old and fragmented legislation with a modern and consolidated bribery law, based on the recommendations of the Law Commission.
• The offences would cover the offering, promising or giving of a bribe and the requesting, agreeing to receive or accepting of a bribe either at home or abroad, in the public or private sectors.
• The Bill would create a discrete offence of bribery of a foreign public official in order to obtain or retain business.
• The Bill would create a new offence in relation to commercial organisations which fail to prevent a bribe being paid by those who perform services for or on behalf of the organisation. It will be a defence if the organisation has adequate procedures in place to prevent bribery.
• The Bill would support business by ensuring that everyone is clear about their responsibilities to do business in an open and honest way, on a level playing field.
Related documents:
• Due 20 November 2009 Government Response to the Report of the Joint Committee on the Draft Bribery Bill
• 28 July 2009, Report of the Joint Committee on the Draft Bribery Bill (HL115, HC 430)
• 25 March 2009 Bribery - Draft Legislation (Cm 7570)
• 20 Nov 2008 Law Commission Report (HC 928) (PDF)
• 29 Nov 2007 Law Commission Consultation Paper - Reforming Bribery (No. 185) (PDF)
Legislative background:
General reform of the bribery laws was first proposed in a Law Commission report in 1998. This led to a draft Government Bill in 2003 that failed to win broad support in pre-legislative scrutiny. A Government draft Bill informed by a further review by the Law Commission was published in March 2009 and was subject to pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee of both Houses between May and July. The Joint Committee report published in July was broadly supportive of the Government’s proposals. The Government’s response to the Joint Committee report is to be published on 20 November; the same day as the publication of the Bill.
Devolution:
The Bill currently extends to England and Wales and Northern Ireland. The subject matter of the Bill, which primarily relates to the criminal law, is (subject to some exceptions) devolved to Scotland. However, following a consultation exercise in Scotland based largely on the proposals contained in the Government’s draft Bill, the Scottish Government has signalled that the Scottish Parliament will be asked to consent to the inclusion of provisions to extend the Bill to Scotland.
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